Having regrets about how your wedding day went can be a fact of life. Despite all of the planning, there are always a few bumps that brides (and grooms!) wish they had avoided. We polled our sweetest, most positive couples and STILL had a list of things they wish they had done differently. In the end, all of these newlyweds made the right decision and married the one they love, which is really all that matters. But consider their advice to avoid these problems for yourself:

I should’ve…

– focused more on what we wanted and worried less about our guests. Especially the location – I should have had it where we wanted, instead of where was convenient for our guests for the day.

– asked for more help with the DIY crafts.

– prayed in a closed room with my husband-to-be, rather than in a crowded room with photographers. That should have been our time, and not a photo op.

– insisted the groom be involved and then acted like I meant it.

– had more bridesmaids- I hated leaving key friends out.

– displayed a menu on the buffet, or had them at place settings.

– Personalized our wedding more to who we are. The decorations, the attire, the music, etc.

I could’ve…

– noticed that I had my hands in my pockets a lot during the ceremony part. I was nervous.

– picked more casual bridesmaids dresses – ones that they could actually wear again, instead of ones that we just said they would wear again.

– Scheduled the wedding later in the day- it was really hot.

– Had alcohol at the reception, OR cut out dancing. It kinda takes one to do the other :)

– Stayed at the reception longer. But come on, who doesn’t REALLY want to leave early?

– Ordered the things I wanted- like small fans and parasols- as soon as I found them. When I went to order 2 months before the wedding, they were sold out.
To do it again, I would’ve…

– told her that I love her in my vows – but I think the whimpering made up for it.

– planned some alone time between me and the groom sometime during the madness of the day.

– hired a better photographer.. or one with skill at ALL.

– planned the wedding when I didn’t have so much other stuff going on.

– had the flowers delivered closer to the wedding day. Our DIY flower project was a little wilted when they showed up a day early.

– made a speech at the reception to my new husband. I would have sidestepped all of potentially awkward moments for him, and the potentially embarrassingly heartfelt moments for me, and told him exactly how much I loved him and exactly how excited I was to start our new adventure together.

– thrown out the church doctrine for the day and danced the night away!

– focused more on spending time with my family the day of the wedding rather than telling them what to do. I have only two mental pictures of spending time with my mom. I would have taken more.

Hopefully you don’t, but if you have your own “lessons learned” to add, leave them in the comment section. And for those of you with up-coming wedding do-overs :) you know where to find us!